kthorne@umich.edu
This is a large quilt, about 56 X 56. It hangs on my sewing room wall. 2004
There are more quilts to view, see sidebar for categories.
This is a piece I had assembled some years ago but never got around to quilting/finishing. I found it while looking for something else, isn’t that always the way? I decided to quilt it with a large leaf pattern all over, to add extra interest to the surface.
I showed it to some quilting and textile art friends and they told me it needed to be oriented differently. Rotate! Like this better? It’s good to be open to new orientations!
Detail:
I started with some strips, alternating light and dark colors. You can still see parts of some of them (blue, green, bright orange print, grey speckles) in the final version. I was not inspired by the striped sets on their own, so I got out some hand-dyed fabric in bright orange and magenta, cutting those pieces into curves. I used those striped sets as background pieces for the curvy ones. I like the feel of motion in this one. Because of the citrus-y colors, I had to name this one for something tropical. 🙂
Detail
Here are two recent works using an identical cutting/sewing method but arranged in different ways. The method starts with four fabrics (dark to light is good), cut to same dimension, stacked right side up. Then using a rotary cutter, make 3 cuts in a quarter circle. They don’t have to be perfect.
Now you have 4 pieces. Re-arrange the four pieces so that you use 4 different fabric pieces in each block. Make more blocks and put them on the design wall to see what happens.
My first one was arranged so that the blocks formed a circle pattern. This one I called Circle Twin.
Then I did another and arranged the blocks so that the curves form waves. I called this one Meander Twin.
Here’s a detail on Circle Twin:
I like both styles. What about you?
I made a quilt similar to this one some years ago. It’s hanging in our living room. I called it “Dancers“. I decided to do another one because I am preparing for an exhibit/sale, and I wanted to show Dancers but not sell it! This one is not a direct copy of the original, but obviously related, and they are still dancing. 🙂
Detail:
I saw a quilt block idea online, and thought I would try this. The solid fabric at one corner of each block is one of my hand-dyed fabric (you can see some variations in them). I used up some of my scraps for the wonky strips. The quilting is a circular pattern on each block (and there is quilting in the border but it is hard to see in this photo until you see the detail below). Although in this photo the border fabric looks like it changes from dark at the left to lighter on the right, that is just a factor of the lighting in my sewing room. The detail photo captures the true color.
Detail
So, the title is from the song “Blue Skies”. The background fabric is one of my ice dyed pieces, and that blue is just wonderful. I need to do some more fabric like this! I love putting strips of colored/patterned fabric together, with no particular plan, and see what develops. The lower border piece is slightly wider than the top, as is often done when painted pieces are framed.
Detail:
I do love to make blocks and then arrange them on my design wall. Some of the fabrics in this piece are hand-dyed, others are commercial fabrics. And black/white prints are always welcome, right? Size is 44 x 44 inches. When I first started arranging blocks, I thought it would be good to have dark blocks at the lower left corner, and light blocks in upper right, with a blending of mid-value blocks in the center. But I found that I didn’t like that much, so I changed it so the lighter ones are “in the middle”.
Detail:
